WATCH | Malema denies he is interfering to anoint a loyalist to lead EFF in Gauteng

EFF leader Julius Malema has denied being the invisible hand in the party’s internal ructions in Gauteng as the province prepares to elect new leaders.

Malema has been accused of interfering in what is said to be a manoeuvre to anoint a leader loyal to him.

The province will convene for its elective conference from September 9 to 11.

Malema is believed to be backing EFF Ekurhuleni region chairperson Nkululeko Dunga. But he dismissed the suggestion during a media briefing on Tuesday, saying he was far from influencing conferences as he did not run day-to-day operations of the party.

“I play a very small role when it comes to PPA [provincial people's assemblies] and my role is to go to a PPA, speak and go. I do not do registration, I do not do membership, I do not run elections — unless the PPA degenerates and I will be called to come back and intervene,” he said.

“Other than that, all this work is done by the SG [secretary-general] and the DSG [deputy secretary-general]. The rest of us are only deployed to go and speak.”

There is no truth in allegations that he is actively directing the outcome of the Gauteng conference, he said. This is a narrative sponsored by disgruntled party members and a former employee who was shown the door for producing a bogus medical certificate. 

Malema said the party’s central command team meeting at the weekend agreed that Gauteng and the North West were ready for their provincial conferences.

“As such, the EFF encourages all delegates, leaders and members of the EFF to practise the highest level of discipline before and during the provincial people’s assemblies and ensure that they always comply with the constitution of the EFF, the code of revolutionary conduct and the guidelines of the assemblies.”

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.